Sprout Social vs Lately.ai
Sprout Social
- Platform: Multi-platform (major social networks)
- Best For: Enterprise teams and agencies
- Strength: Unified publishing, engagement, and ROI analytics
- Users: 30,000+ brands
Starting at $199 per seat/month
Lately.ai
- Platform: Multi-channel (text, audio, video to social)
- Best For: Content-rich B2B teams and agencies
- Strength: Personalized AI Voice Models for repurposing
- Users: 1,000+ users
Starting at $14/month
Table of Contents
At a Glance
Platform Support
| Feature | Sprout Social | Lately.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Major Social Networks (Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn) | ✓ Deep integrations with publishing and engagement across all major networks | ✓ Channel-specific formatting for posts generated from repurposed content |
| Content Input Types (Text, Audio, Video) | ✗ Supports multimedia publishing but no automated repurposing | ✓ AI repurposes longform text, audio, and video into social posts |
| Multi-Language Support | ✗ English-focused with some localization | ✓ Supports multiple languages and regional dialects via Voice Models |
| Employee Advocacy | ✓ Dedicated add-on for employee networks and reach extension | ✓ Built-in tools for compliant employee sharing |
Content Creation & AI
| Feature | Sprout Social | Lately.ai |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Assisted Content Generation | ✓ AI Assist for enhancing posts and replies | ✓ Neuroscience-driven AI trained on your analytics for brand-specific posts |
| Content Repurposing | ✗ Manual content creation and scheduling | ✓ Automated repurposing of longform into dozens of posts |
| Brand Voice Customization | ✗ Collaboration tools for tone consistency | ✓ Voice Models learn tone, style, and performance patterns |
| Optimal Send Times | ✓ Advanced publishing calendar with Optimal Send Times | ✓ AI-powered scheduling based on performance data |
Scheduling & Publishing
| Feature | Sprout Social | Lately.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Publishing Calendar | ✓ Advanced calendar with approvals and collaboration | ✓ Full social media calendar with AI scheduling |
| Automated Scheduling | ✓ Smart Inbox for engagement, but manual-heavy publishing | ✓ 100% automation of workflows in Enterprise |
| Approval Workflows | ✓ Built-in approvals for team collaboration | ✗ Governance for agencies but no detailed approval flows |
| Bulk Scheduling | ✓ Supports bulk via integrations | ✓ RSS feed integration for automated bulk |
Engagement & Customer Care
| Feature | Sprout Social | Lately.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Unified Inbox | ✓ Smart Inbox for centralized customer care | ✗ No dedicated inbox; focus on publishing |
| Sentiment Analysis | ✓ Sentiment tracking in Smart Inbox and Reviews | ✗ Predictive modeling but no real-time sentiment |
| AI-Enhanced Replies | ✓ Enhance Reply by AI Assist | ✓ AI for post generation, not replies |
| Influencer Marketing | ✓ Dedicated platform with 10M+ creator profiles | ✗ No influencer tools |
Analytics & Listening
| Feature | Sprout Social | Lately.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Analytics | ✓ Premium Analytics with filtering, benchmarks, reports | ✓ Performance analytics with predictive modeling |
| Social Listening | ✓ AI-powered listening with Smart Categories and Spike Alerts | ✗ No listening capabilities |
| ROI Reporting | ✓ Advanced social ROI with shareable reports | ✗ Analytics focused on content performance |
| Custom Dashboards | ✓ Customizable with Premium add-on | ✗ Basic performance tracking |
Integrations & Enterprise
| Feature | Sprout Social | Lately.ai |
|---|---|---|
| CRM Integrations (Salesforce) | ✓ Extensive with Salesforce and helpdesks | ✓ Integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, Hootsuite |
| SSO & Security | ✓ Enterprise-grade security and SSO | ✗ Governance for enterprises but no SSO mentioned |
| Multi-Account Management | ✓ For agencies and large orgs | ✓ Governance and key messaging controls |
| Onboarding Support | ✓ Dedicated onboarding for Enterprise | ✓ White Glove VIP service in Enterprise |
Pricing Comparison
Sprout Social starts at $199 per seat/month for comprehensive management, targeting enterprises, while Lately.ai begins at $14/month for AI repurposing, offering better entry-level value for content-focused teams. Sprout's per-seat model scales with team size, whereas Lately provides flexible monthly/annual options with add-ons.
Sprout Social
Standard
$199 per seat/month
Small teams starting with core management
- 5 social profiles
- Keyword and location monitoring
- Unlimited AI-generated alt text
- Optimal send times
- Review management
- Group, profile and post-level reporting
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
- Access to add-ons like Premium Analytics and Listening (at extra cost)
Professional
$299 per seat/month
Growing teams needing unlimited profiles
- Everything in Standard
- Unlimited social profiles
- Message tagging
- Extensive competitor, tag and paid insights
- Enhance Post by AI Assist
- Advanced publishing and collaboration tools
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
Advanced
$399 per seat/month
Teams focused on customer care
- Everything in Professional
- Enhance Reply by AI Assist
- Sentiment in the Smart Inbox and Reviews
- The Sprout API and helpdesk integrations
- Team productivity and social customer care reports
- Message Spike Alerts
- Mobile app for iOS and Android
Enterprise
Custom
Large organizations
- Everything in Advanced
- White-glove onboarding and implementation
- Plan tailored to enterprise business needs
- Dedicated service for hassle-free SSO setup
- Priority customer support
- Custom limits for social profiles and brand keywords
Premium Analytics (Add-on)
Custom
Data-driven teams
- Tailored performance insights
- Advanced filtering and segmentation
- Interactive charts and graphs
- Custom benchmarks and comparisons
- Shareable links for presentation-ready reports
Listening (Add-on)
Custom
Brands monitoring conversations
- AI-powered listening across millions of conversations
- Smart Categories for influential topics
- Sentiment tracking and scoring model
- Custom Spike Alerts for volume and sentiment changes
- Machine learning filters for relevant content
- External share links for business-critical insights
Employee Advocacy (Add-on)
Custom
Organizations leveraging employees
- Curated on-brand content hub for employees
- UTM parameters for tracking sales and engagement
- Earned media value calculations
- Tags for reporting and content organization
- My Feed, newsletters, Slack and mobile alerts
- Direct content push from Compose workflow
Professional Services (Add-on)
Custom
Teams needing guidance
- Strategic guidance and expert recommendations
- Personalized trainings and onboarding support
- Industry trend insights and education sessions
- Listening consultations and topic refinement
- Custom dashboards and reporting frameworks
- Implementation support, process reviews and tag audits
Influencer Marketing (Standalone or Add-on)
Custom
Brands partnering with creators
- Access to 10M+ creator profiles with smart filters
- Brand-safe creator discovery by topic
- End-to-end campaign management
- Conversion tracking with UTMs and pixels
- Robust analytics from social intelligence engine
- Tailored reporting across paid and organic performance
- Support for paying creator fees
Lately.ai
Starter (Annual)
$14/month
Solo creators starting with AI repurposing
- Repurpose longform text, audio, and video into engaging social posts
- Basic scheduling and analytics functionality
- 1 Voice Model
- 5 social channels
- 1 user seat
- Free trial available
Starter (Monthly)
$19/month
Solo creators preferring flexibility
- Repurpose longform text, audio, and video into engaging social posts
- Basic scheduling and analytics functionality
- 1 Voice Model
- 5 social channels
- 1 user seat
- Free trial available
Growth (Annual)
$199/month
Small teams scaling content
- Everything in Starter
- Full calendar plus AI scheduling
- Performance analytics
- Voice Model editing
- RSS feed integration
- 1 Voice Model
- 5 social channels
- 3 user seats
Growth (Monthly)
$239/month
Small teams with monthly billing
- Everything in Starter
- Full calendar plus AI scheduling
- Performance analytics
- Voice Model editing
- RSS feed integration
- 1 Voice Model
- 25 social channels
- 5 user seats
Enterprise (Annual)
Custom
Large organizations automating at scale
- Everything in Growth
- 100% automation of social workflows
- Multiple client account governance and key messaging controls
- Regional dialect and foreign language adaptation
- Employee advocacy functionality
- Unlimited Voice Models
- Unlimited social channels
- Unlimited user seats
- "White Glove" VIP customer service
Enterprise (Monthly)
Custom
Large organizations with flexibility
- Everything in Growth
- 100% automation of social workflows
- Multiple client account governance and key messaging controls
- Regional dialect and foreign language adaptation
- Employee advocacy functionality
- Unlimited Voice Models
- Unlimited social channels
- Unlimited user seats
- "White Glove" VIP customer service
Feature Deep Dive
Content Creation Capabilities
Sprout Social
Strengths
- AI Assist for enhancing posts and generating alt text
- Advanced publishing tools with collaboration and approvals
- Support for multimedia across networks
- Optimal Send Times for better engagement
Workflow
Create post in Compose → Use AI Assist to enhance → Collaborate and approve → Schedule with optimal times
Lately.ai
Strengths
- Neuroscience-driven AI repurposes longform into channel-specific posts
- Voice Models for personalized tone and style
- Handles text, audio, video inputs
- Predictive modeling for high-performing content
Workflow
Input longform content → Train or use Voice Model → Generate posts → Edit and schedule via AI
Sprout Social focuses on collaborative, manual-enhanced creation for teams, ideal for structured publishing. Lately.ai shines in automated, AI-driven repurposing from existing assets, saving time for content-rich teams. Choose Sprout for team workflows, Lately for efficient scaling of longform content.
Scheduling & Automation
Sprout Social
Strengths
- Advanced publishing calendar with drag-and-drop
- Optimal Send Times and approvals
- Integrations for automated workflows
- Mobile app for on-the-go scheduling
Limitations
- More manual than fully automated
- Per-seat limits on profiles in lower tiers
Lately.ai
Strengths
- AI-powered scheduling and full calendar management
- 100% automation in Enterprise
- RSS integration for ongoing feeds
- Channel-specific optimization
Limitations
- Basic in Starter; full automation requires higher tiers
- Less emphasis on collaborative approvals
Sprout Social offers robust, team-oriented scheduling with strong collaboration, suiting enterprises. Lately.ai provides smarter, AI-automated scheduling focused on content output, better for automated repurposing. Sprout wins for complex team needs, Lately for hands-off efficiency.
Analytics & Social Listening
Sprout Social
Strengths
- Premium Analytics with advanced filtering and benchmarks
- Social listening add-on for sentiment and spike alerts
- Shareable reports proving social ROI
- Integrations for unified data
Workflow
Monitor via Smart Inbox → Analyze with Premium tools → Generate reports → Alert on spikes
Lately.ai
Strengths
- Performance analytics with predictive modeling
- Trains AI on your social data
- Basic insights into content effectiveness
Limitations
- No dedicated listening or sentiment tools
- Focused on post performance, not broader monitoring
Sprout Social dominates with enterprise-level analytics and listening for strategic insights. Lately.ai provides solid content-specific analytics but lacks depth in monitoring. For ROI and listening, Sprout is superior; for predictive content optimization, Lately suffices.
Enterprise & Collaboration Features
Sprout Social
Strengths
- Smart Inbox for team engagement
- Add-ons for advocacy, influencer, and services
- SSO, security, and custom onboarding
- API and helpdesk integrations
Workflow
Onboard team → Set up approvals and integrations → Manage via unified platform → Report on ROI
Lately.ai
Strengths
- Governance for multi-client accounts
- Unlimited seats and channels in Enterprise
- Employee advocacy and language adaptation
- White Glove support
Limitations
- Less focus on engagement and customer care
- No SSO or advanced security mentioned
Sprout Social is built for enterprise-scale management with deep collaboration and security. Lately.ai supports enterprise automation and governance but is more content-centric. Sprout is better for full social operations, Lately for automated content in distributed teams.
Use Case Comparison
Enterprise Marketing Team
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Unified platform handles publishing, engagement, analytics, and listening at scale with enterprise security.
Best Plan: Enterprise (Custom)
Score: 10/10
Lately.ai
Good
Strong automation and multi-language support, but lacks full management and listening.
Best Plan: Enterprise (Custom)
Score: 7/10
B2B Content Marketing Team
Sprout Social
Good
Solid publishing and analytics, but manual content creation.
Best Plan: Professional ($299/seat/month)
Score: 7/10
Lately.ai 🏆
Excellent
AI repurposes blogs/webinars into social posts with brand voice.
Best Plan: Growth ($199/month)
Score: 10/10
Social Customer Care Team
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Smart Inbox, sentiment, and AI replies streamline high-volume support.
Best Plan: Advanced ($399/seat/month)
Score: 10/10
Lately.ai
Poor
No inbox or engagement tools; publishing-focused.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 2/10
Agency Managing Multiple Clients
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Robust collaboration, reporting, and add-ons for client management.
Best Plan: Advanced or Enterprise
Score: 9/10
Lately.ai
Good
Governance and unlimited accounts in Enterprise, but limited engagement.
Best Plan: Enterprise (Custom)
Score: 8/10
Solo Content Creator
Sprout Social
Poor
Overkill and expensive for basic needs.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 3/10
Lately.ai 🏆
Excellent
Affordable AI repurposing for quick post generation.
Best Plan: Starter ($14/month annual)
Score: 9/10
Employee Advocacy Program
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Dedicated add-on with content hub and tracking.
Best Plan: Professional + Employee Advocacy add-on
Score: 10/10
Lately.ai
Good
Built-in advocacy tools for compliant sharing.
Best Plan: Growth or Enterprise
Score: 7/10
Running Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Full platform with creator database and management.
Best Plan: Advanced + Influencer add-on
Score: 10/10
Lately.ai
Poor
No influencer-specific tools.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 1/10
Global Brand Needing Multilingual Content
Sprout Social
Fair
Multi-platform but limited language adaptation.
Best Plan: Enterprise
Score: 5/10
Lately.ai 🏆
Excellent
Regional dialects and foreign language Voice Models.
Best Plan: Enterprise (Custom)
Score: 9/10
Budget-Conscious Startup
Sprout Social
Poor
High cost not viable for small budgets.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 2/10
Lately.ai 🏆
Excellent
Low starting price with powerful AI features.
Best Plan: Starter ($14/month)
Score: 9/10
Data-Driven Social Strategy
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Advanced analytics, listening, and ROI reporting.
Best Plan: Professional + Premium Analytics
Score: 10/10
Lately.ai
Good
Predictive analytics for content, but no listening.
Best Plan: Growth ($199/month)
Score: 6/10
Repurposing Podcasts into Social Posts
Sprout Social
Fair
Manual scheduling of audio clips.
Best Plan: Standard ($199/seat/month)
Score: 4/10
Lately.ai 🏆
Excellent
AI handles audio input for automated post generation.
Best Plan: Growth ($199/month)
Score: 10/10
High-Volume Social Support
Sprout Social 🏆
Excellent
Smart Inbox and AI replies for efficient care.
Best Plan: Advanced ($399/seat/month)
Score: 10/10
Lately.ai
Poor
No support tools.
Best Plan: Not suitable
Score: 1/10
Pros and Cons
Sprout Social
Pros
- Extremely comprehensive feature set for publishing, engagement, analytics, and listening
- Strong focus on social ROI with advanced reporting and Premium Analytics
- AI Assist features that speed up content creation and customer responses
- Smart Inbox and sentiment tools that streamline social customer care
- Robust integrations with major social networks and Salesforce
- Enterprise-grade security, SSO, and dedicated onboarding
- Influencer and employee advocacy add-ons for extended reach
Cons
- High per-seat pricing can be prohibitive for small teams or solo users
- Annual billing model reduces flexibility for month-to-month experimentation
- Complex feature set may require training and onboarding to fully leverage
- Some advanced capabilities like Premium Analytics and Listening require additional add-on costs
- Overkill for users who only need basic scheduling and simple reporting
- No built-in content repurposing from longform assets
Lately.ai
Pros
- Highly personalized AI trained on your own social analytics and engagement data
- Excellent for repurposing longform content into dozens of social posts quickly
- Strong Voice Model capabilities for brand, regional, and individual voices
- Built-in AI scheduling and full calendar management for long-range planning
- Robust enterprise features including governance, multi-account management, and advocacy
- Affordable starting price with flexible monthly/annual options
- Multi-language support and integrations with key tools like HubSpot and Salesforce
Cons
- Pricing, especially for Growth and Enterprise, may be high for solo creators or very small teams
- Feature set can feel complex if you only need simple LinkedIn post generation
- Best results require connecting analytics and feeding substantial longform content
- Interface and workflows may involve a learning curve for non-technical marketers
- No unified inbox, social listening, or customer care tools
- Some pages and resources on the site redirect to 404s, hindering information access
Final Verdict
Sprout Social and Lately.ai cater to different aspects of social media operations. Sprout Social is a full-suite enterprise platform excelling in unified management, customer care, and analytics for large teams. Lately.ai is an AI specialist for content repurposing and automation, ideal for efficient post generation from existing assets.
Opt for Sprout Social if you require a comprehensive, enterprise-ready tool for management and insights. Choose Lately.ai for AI-powered content efficiency and repurposing. For hybrid needs, integrate Lately's output into Sprout's workflows to combine automation with robust operations.
Overall Scores
Sprout Social
Content Creation: 7/10
Lately.ai
Content Creation: 9/10
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